DHUnplugged #688: Big BIG Week

HUGE Earnings - Most impactful week of quarter.

China continues to try to save markets

Push Back? Powell Meets Markets Wednesday.


PCE - FED FAV - The Latest.

Announcing a new Closest to The Pin.


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Warm Up
-  Jury Duty?
- Big Week for ECO - Jobs Report Friday
- Penmanship - making a comeback?
- Is this a Capitulation Moment - China?
-- War Brewing - Dragging US into Mid-East Conflict?


Market Update
- HUGE Earnings - Most impactful week of quarter
- China continues to try to save markets
- Push Back? Powell Meets Markets Wednesday
- PCE - FED FAV - The Latest


PODCAST DEAL
- Sirius XM Holdings Inc. has acquired certain exclusive rights to SmartLess, the hit podcast hosted by actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, as part of a larger deal between the satellite radio company and SmartLess Media.
- The three-year accord is worth more than $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.

SUPER- Bowl
- Tickets to attend the Super Bowl in Las Vegas — a rematch between the 2020 contenders — are the most expensive ever for the event, going for an average $9,815 each so far, according to reseller TickPick.
- The price is 70% more than last year’s game, which was held in Arizona. The previous record of $7,046 was set in 2021 in Tampa, Florida, when the game was played at sharply reduced capacity

Rate Hike Probabilities
- First move for markets from Oct '23 was the HOPE and LOVE of Fed Rate Cuts to come - As soon as March
- (The we got the AI 'rager' that helped support Bull markets)
- - NOW, Rate CUT hopes fading - markets ignoring facts
--- Rate Cut Chart Odds - Fading
Rate Cut Odds
Reporting this week:
- Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft
--- Huge components for NAZ100 and S&P500

Microsoft
- Microsoft was expected to report a 15.8% jump in quarterly revenue, its best growth in nearly two years, as rising adoption of its products infused with generative AI fuels demand for its cloud services.
-- ACTUAL:
---- Microsoft's Q2 revenue was $62.02 billion, a 16% increase, surpassing the estimate of $61.14 billion.
----- Earnings per share (EPS) were reported at $2.93, beating the consensus by $0.16.
-- Stock even A/H

Google/Alphabet
- GOOGL company achieved a YoY revenue increase of 13.5%, reaching $86.31 billion, surpassing expectations.
- Google Advertising reported $65.52 billion in revenue, showing an 11.0% YoY growth but falling short of expecations.
-- Stock Down 4% AH

More Earnings - TSLA
- Horrible!
- Earnings per share: 71 cents, adjusted vs. 74 cents expected.
- Revenue: $25.17 billion vs. $25.6 billion expected.
- Operating margin for the quarter came in at 8.2%, down from the year-ago quarter's figure of 16%
- Tesla said in its investor presentation that vehicle volume growth in 2024 "may be notably lower" than last year's growth rate as the company works toward launching its "next-generation vehicle" in Texas.
- Stock down 14% on the news
---- Stock market cap still down 40% since purchase of Twitter in 2022

AMD -
- Met expectations but guided DOWN
- So much for the big rise based on NOTHING!
- Stocks DOWN 10%

Tech Layoffs
- Silicon Valley’s tech companies are slashing headcount at a rapid pace.
- Since the start of January, some 23,670 workers have been laid off from 85 tech companies, according to the website Layoffs.fyi.
- Some are laying off staff in parts of the business to invest more heavily in developing AI products.

China
- The China Securities Regulatory Commission has said that investors will no longer be able to lend out shares for trading purpo...